


mafs oneshot: turn around

by kittymills



Series: married at first sight [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Married Sheith, Mild Angst, SHEITH - Freeform, helicopter pilot keith, keith at work, mafs verse au, shiro still part of the garrison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 13:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymills/pseuds/kittymills
Summary: Keith gets called in to work for a rescue mission, Shiro tags along





	mafs oneshot: turn around

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually an old deleted chapter i found from early on... i may continue it with smuts or use it as a jump point into the sequel (or both), i'm not sure yet.
> 
> Set before Shiro has finished his contract at the garrison.

Keith’s phone trills in the middle of the night and he lunges for it in an attempt to reach it before it wakes his husband. He fails.

“Keith?” Shiro mumbles sleepily. Keith gives him an apologetic grimace as he answers the call.

“Keith,” comes his supervisor’s voice on the other end of the line. Trigel doesn’t waste time with pleasantries. “It’s all hands-on deck for this one. Coast guard needs assist with a search and rescue. How soon can you get here?”

“Ah,” Keith pushes the sheets aside and climbs to his feet, shuffling into their walk-in robe for his uniform even as he checks the time. It’s barely turned one in the morning. Traffic will be light.  “Yeah, yeah I can be there in fifteen.”

“Good, see to it you are. Lance is prepping the helicopter.”

The call cuts out and he hangs up, dropping his phone onto one of the shelves when a figure looms large in the doorway.

“Everything okay?” Shiro asks.

“Yeah,” Keith grunts, sliding his shirt on. “Search and rescue.”

“Need help?”

Keith pauses mid-button. Volunteers were always welcome and Shiro could be more useful than most with his skillset and leadership abilities. He could work with Allura to help delegate and coordinate the teams. Still, Keith feels reluctant about dragging his husband into his chaotic world. He hesitates for a moment, biting his lip.

He looks up from under his hair and glances through the doorway at the rumpled sheets on the bed.

“Are you sure you want to? You should be sleeping.”

“I can’t sleep if you’re not here,” Shiro smiles at him as he steps into the robe and starts to dress. “Besides, I don’t have to be anywhere tomorrow. Let me be useful.”

Even Keith is surprised at the rush of gratitude that slides over him. “Okay,” he says. “Yeah, that would be great.”

 

* * *

 

Shiro drives as Keith brings himself up to speed on the search details with his tablet perched on his lap.  Shiro doesn’t really understand it but it sounds like a yacht went down in the storm that’s currently beating against the car and it’s not where the beacon says it’s supposed to be. A multitude of crews are searching but the ocean is large and angry and there’s too much ground for them to cover effectively without calling in every resource they have.

Keith directs him into the emergency services air base, guiding him to a space behind one of the hangars to park and then he’s bounding out of the car and through the rain fast enough that Shiro almost struggles to catch up.

The hangar is lit up on the inside with a bevy of activity. Vibrant displays are thrown up on the walls and volunteers and crews from various teams rush about. Out on the tarmac, one of the Careflight helicopters currently sits idle under the rolling streaks of lighting in the distance.

Shiro pushes down his unease and focuses on following Keith into the hangar.

“There’s Allura,” Keith says.

He places a hand on Shiro’s bicep to still him and it’s warm through the material of his shirt. Keith is so focused now, a determined twist on his lips that Shiro is starting to become very familiar with. This is Keith with his game face on, this is him already distracted from the moment and thinking a million steps ahead to what he needs to do to achieve his objective.

Shiro experiences a sharp, possessive flicker of pride. 

“She’s helping with the co-ordination and she could use your help,” Keith continues.

“Noted,” Shiro says and he starts to head in her direction. He makes it only two steps before Keith yanks on his arm and pulls him in for a short, hard kiss right there in front of all the volunteers and his colleagues.  “Be safe,” he hears himself say in a minor daze as Keith steps away. 

“Love you,” Keith mouths the second before he turns and sprints towards the helicopter.

 

* * *

 

The machines engines vibrate through the helicopter’s chassis, the twin blades on either side thumping heavily through the sky as Keith steers it out through the storm.

“Can’t see shit in this weather,” Lance calls out. He’s scanning the displays in front of them, trying to find a faster way to their destination. A beacon’s light flashes on the map, summoning them deeper over the ocean. Forty minutes into their flight, they’d been advised of the location of the troubled vessel and it’s not good. The ship is sinking, the crew in distress and there’s not enough time.

There’s never enough time.

“We need to be faster!” Keith yells over the storm. He’s relying heavily on the sensors, on the machine under his hands to get them where they need to be. “We need to find a faster route!”

“How?” Lance snaps back. His voice sounds tinny in Keith’s ears. “There’s nothing between us and the coastline but the garrison base, we have to go around. We don’t have a choice!”

Keith stares at the map as the lights blink and shift. Then his jaw gets tight. 

“No,” he says in determination. “We go through.”

“What? Keith! We can’t do that!”

“Yes we can, look, we’ll shave all this time off if we just go directly-“

Allura’s voice cuts sharply over the comms. “Negative, MK-5 you can _not_ enter garrison airspace!”

Lance stares at him. “She’s right, man. They’ll shoot us down if we get too close. You know that!”

“They won’t shoot us down,” Keith says determinedly. He’s already moving his hands over the controls. “We’re a medical airship.”

“Keith, no, you can’t-“ Allura’s voice sounds staticky over the comms.

“Don’t do this man,” Lance shakes his head. “We can’t. The garrison doesn’t fuck around. You should know this!”

“Lance, if we don’t do something soon, we’re not going to make it to those people in time.”

Keith bats the controls, swiftly changing their course and speed and Lance snaps out a hand to brace himself as the helicopter abruptly shifts on their airwaves and banks. A crack of thunder sounds in the distance and a heartbeat later, everything is bathed in silver for an instant.

“This is a bad idea, Keith!”

Then a familiar voice in his ear makes Keith blink and double take.  “Keith, Keith, please listen.”

“Shiro?”

“Keith, don’t go into garrison airspace. Please, they _will_ shoot you down.”

“We won’t get there in time if we don’t!” Keith snaps in irritation. The urge to keep the helicopter on the shortest header was strong, but there’s something in Shiro’s voice that sounds oddly enough like fear that it makes him pause.

“Please, Keith. You’ll be no help to anyone if you get shot down.”

There’s a split second before the alarms sound and a red-light blares in their cockpit. They’re close now, close enough the warnings are impossible to ignore. Keith growls under his breath but he doesn’t change course..

“Keith, come on,” Lance says in a low voice. The sharp-edged panic of before has faded to simple fear. “We can’t help anyone if we’re dead.”

“Keith,” his husband’s voice caresses his ear once again. Soft and pleading. Impossible to ignore. Every fibre in his body sings to listen.

Keith grits his teeth harder.

“KEITH!” Lance yells just as Keith suddenly snarls and reefs on the controls, sending the helicopter back and away from the garrison airspace. He’s vaguely aware of a sigh of relief in his ear but he’s too angry to pay it much mind.

In the end, they make it but it’s almost too late for one of the crew. As soon as they touch down, the team rushes to meet them, tearing across the tarmac with stretchers waiting to take the worst affected straight to hospital. Keith and Lance do what they can to assist but it’s a flurry of activity and before long, Keith is manually shutting down the helicopter and yanking his flight helmet off his head.

His legs shake as he walks across the tarmac to the hangers, surprised when he notices a lone figure waiting for him in the distance backlit by the floodlights in the hangars. The storm has moved off towards the coast, leaving behind just a drizzling rain.

“Keith,” Shiro says quietly as he approaches. “Are you alright?”

Keith comes to a stop. He grips his helmet tightly in one hand. The adrenaline drop feels like it’s going to hit any moment and he already feels slightly ill. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lies.

Shiro studies him silently. “I’m sorry I had to step in back there.”

Keith clenches his jaw. He clenches his hands around his helmet too. There’s wetness on his cheeks he blames on the rain.

“I thought it would buy us time.”

“But you’d probably be dead.”

Keith almost flinches at the rough undertone in Shiro’s voice. He looks up at his husband then, really looks at him and sees the stark fear in his grey eyes and it makes him weak. The words tumble out of him, the desperation from the harried flight to get to the sinking yacht suddenly welling up in him all over again.

The frustration tastes metallic on his tongue.

“Couldn’t you have done something? Given us access or-“

Even as he says it, he knows it’s a ridiculous request. Shiro’s shoulders sag in front of his eyes and this voice becomes guttural. “Keith, you know I don’t have that kind of sway.”

Keith swallows down his frustration. It’s not as hard as it should be but then he’s not angry at his husband. He’s not even sure he’s angry anymore. Right now, he’s tired and vaguely uneasy. He feels like he needs to hold back, build up his defences a little stronger but when Shiro opens up his arms, he doesn’t hesitate before falling into his husband’s chest.

Shiro fold himself around him. 

“Keith,” Shiro breathes against his hair. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“I’m sorry,” Keith manages to croak out. And he is. He’d been so focused on the objective he could have very easily got himself and Lance killed in the process. “I’m sorry,” he says again but it feels pitiful and weak.

Shiro leans back, cupping Keith’s face in his palms and brushing a kiss against his wet lips. “I love you,” he says and it sounds rough. “I need you. I never want to lose you.”

Keith drops his flight helmet, ignoring the rough clack it makes when it connects with the rough surface of the tarmac. He curls his arms around Shiro’s neck, pressing their chests together as he seeks out his husband’s mouth. The kiss he presses there is desperate and hungry but he’s rewarded by Shiro’s large hand landing against his hips and hauling him closer until he’s almost lifted off his feet. Shiro’s mouth tastes sweet, like the fizzy drinks they were handing out to the volunteers that remained on base and Keith does his best to suck the taste off his tongue.

Shiro groans against his mouth and his hands shift, hauling him up. Keith wraps his legs around him, feeling the way Shiro’s muscles strain against his weight. He’s sure they cut a strange sight in the rain but he doesn’t care.

 Keith clings to him, trying to blink through the drizzle and the suddenly hungry thunder of his heart.

“Take me home,” he whispers in the darkness.


End file.
